The Signal [Blu-ray]

First off let me start by I love any movie about Aliens and anything to do with them. When I first watched the trailer for this I had to click "buy" before the trailer was even over, it looked that good. The whole idea and concept of the movie is brilliant, how our government knows EXACTLY what is going on with alien abductions and they hide it all from the public. I loved the fact after the "abduction" happened they "woke-up" in a secret underground government scientific laboratory (I believe all of this is true in real life). Our government is so quick to hide any real information of anything ever happening like this in real life, but it does happen and it happens every day. I am a believer that our government allows these things to go on and keep the public hidden from the truth as long as they receive technology from the aliens (which they hide from us as well so we continue spending the "petro-dollar" ). This movie hit it right on the nose about a lot of topics that are very interesting, but I believe it could have been a lot better then it was. First off, if the aliens did change your legs from human to "alien" why did it look so robotic ? It would have been more believable if it was more "flesh" like, maybe half humanoid, half alien. It would have been a bit more realistic then robot legs and arms that have special powers? Secondly it should have gone more into a realistic view of the secret underground bases that they have all over the Area-51 zone. That whole scene when he escapes with his girlfriend was just extremely hard to watch for me because I know that would never happen in real life. Those bases are miles and miles and miles underground with all types of crazy security forces on every floor. It would be next to impossible to escape. Besides that I would have liked to see more examples of other people who have been abducted and they were studying there as well, they did show a scene when he was being wheel-chaired back to his room when they were cleaning out other rooms that seemed to have had some kind of alien "Goo" all over them. They could have done some really cool scenes down there if they had made a few more realistic points of view. That cow scene, what was that about? Would have liked to see something better then that.Thirdly I thought the movie would have been better if they didn't get so much into the feelings of the characters. I would liked to see the real life damage that happens to people after they've been abducted. I wanted to see more of the side effects from what happened to them during their "experience". And what even happened to the girl? it didn't show anything different about her other then a little probe like object on the back of her neck, other than that why did his friend get new arms when his arms were perfectly fine to begin with? I understand the boys legs got switched because he couldn't walk, but the other boys arms? The girls neck? I just think that could have been better detailed about what happened to those two. With real life abductions, they have found a lot of weird metallic unknown objects imbedded inside the abducties skin. As far as I know, these objects are unknown what their function is or why they are there ( the government probably knows exactly what they are and why their there though ). Although this movie was a little over board at times, I did enjoy it. I liked the scene at the very end when he "broke-through" the "realm" ( if thats what you call it ) and was looking at all kinds of different dimensions, that was cool. I also enjoyed when Fishbournes character revealed himself as a humanoid as-well and told him he was chosen for this to happen, it answered a lot of questions I had about how and why did an alien contact them through an online deep internet chat. I enjoyed this movie a lot, I loved the whole concept and idea of this movie, i just wish it focused more about what happens during an abduction and what happens after the abduction more than the feelings of the boy and him trying to escape. This is an extremely interested part of life that I wish was more publicly known about the true life events that are happening to people and what our government is doing. Look into these things and you will find you for yourself.

A good movie! I was worried it was going to go the art house/indie route and be confusing and while pretty to watch, not give the viewer any real answers. It did give answers, in fact pretty much everything is answered right at one of the best endings of any science fiction movie I have seen in some time.The movie starts off - having seen the trailers - as a completely different movie almost. We meet three friends traveling across country, friend Jonah and hacker friend Nic along with Nic's girlfriend Haley, all helping Haley move from MIT to a university in California. Johah and Nic are obsessed with a powerful and cryptic hacker called Nomad, who they track down to a very, very rural area of Nevada. More or less along the route they take, the three end up investigating, hoping to confront Nomad in person.Until they reach the place where their GPS coordinates lead them to Nomad, the film (a few creepy overtones of the hacker skills of Nomad aside), feels like a beautiful shot indie film, with gorgeous light, beautiful skies, a long road trip through farmland and forest and desert, the three of them dealing (or not dealing) with Haley leaving their lives for a year and Nic coming to terms with an illness that in the future will put him possibly in a wheel chair and how he views that changing (or ending) his relationship with Haley.Once they get to the strange home in the desert where Nomad supposedly lives, it gets a bit of a horror movie vibe, with lowlight cameras revealing a strange house, cryptic house hold items, but no sign of Nomad. Quickly things get worse, as Nic and Jonah, in the basement (!; not a place I want to be in a such setting), hear Haley screaming...and it gets strange from there, with Nic waking up in some sort of secure government facility, surrounded by people in contamination suits, the only one that talks to Nic being Jonah (with a wonderful calm and soothing voice).I don't want to give anything more away, but it was a good and original science fiction film. I liked the flashbacks to the life Nic had before the events of this film, the time before the encounter grounded the characters (though not entirely sure the trajectory of Nic's and Haley's relationship really played out post encounter), and the effects (especially the slow motion photography) were good.

Sadly one of those films that's incredibly interesting right up to the end when it just falls apart for no reason.Three college kids find some information on the internet and head off into the dessert to find a little more, they come across an old abandoned house, start explore, a loud noise outside and they see one of their number abducted. They all wake up in a medical institution with no idea how, what or why, then things start to get stranger and stranger.All along I was kept engrossed by the story, which basically revolves around the three kids trying to understand why they are where they are and why they are constantly under observation. The story unfolds at the perfect pace and you're only given just the right amount of information at each stage to keep you going and you're always left wanting just a little more and as each part of the story unfolds you get just a little bit more, it's a stunning achievement in story telling. You really have to be patient.Sadly that's right up until the last 60 seconds of the film which I'm afraid just, "died on it's backside". After the amazing build up and all you go through I felt incredibly let down by such a lazy cop out at the end of the film and it completely ruined the story to be let down at the very end, there was so much more they could have done but someone at the studio obviously cut the poor writer and director off and told them to finish it that way.Such a terrible shame to have worked so hard on getting into the story only to have it ruined at the end.

This is a sci-fi film that will divide audiences. I liken it to  Love [DVD ] - inasmuch as the story is not altogether clear or straightforward, and you'll have to think about what you've seen in order to piece together the meaning of the film. While there are a couple of moments of action, this movie intends to capture your imagination and entertain your intrigue. The point is, you should be asking yourself "what's going on?" And, in the final moments, some answers are offered that might make you go "wow!". You'll be pleasantly surprised (possibly even awe struck) ... or you'll feel let down and wonder why you've wasted 90 minutes of your time!The premise of the tale is that three students are travelling across the USA - and, on their way, they decide to locate some unknown person who's been hacking into their computer (presumably to try and get them to stop). But the signal they trace leads only to a remote, desolate shack ... Then, suddenly, all three of them find themselves in a clinical facility - presumably government black ops - and are told that they've encountered an alien! With tests being undertaken on them, these three students are distraught and decide to escape. Unfortunately, things turn from bad to worse ...It's well acted and well directed. So long as you enjoy vague plots and abstract storytelling, I do recommend it. As for me, it left me wanting more. However, I fully understand if it leaves some viewers utterly bored. Love [DVD

A quirky, inventive and original low-budget 'what if?' flick which gets maximum value from an excellent performance by Laurence Fishburn. He's not the star of the story - instead it focuses on a trio of geek students, two of whom may have pushed a hacking rival too far.The result soon spirals into X-Files territory, with a sinister deserted shack morphing into a disconcerting 'research centre' where nothing is quite what it seems. It could be a typical govt cover-up conspiracy, or it could be something rather more surreal.Full of plot twists and surprising revelations which kept us guessing and entertained for the whole time. Laurence Fishburn really lifts the whole thing with a subtle, quietly weird delivery.Not a film to think about in too much detail afterwards because the logic doesn't entirely stand up to scrutiny. The point of some scenes eluded us, too (the cow in particular).But overall it was rewarding to watch something a little bit different and challenging. Well executed, tight filming. good script.7/10

A strange film in many ways and quite enjoyable. I won't add to the plot or descriptions as others have covered this in their reviews. What I would say is that this a film of three fairly distinct elements. The opening twenty minutes introduces the characters and their relationships with each other and NOMAD, the strange, unknown hacker toying with them. Once they track him down in the dessert, the tone and pace change, to something more sinister and intriguing. Unfortunately, the final act doesn't live up to expectations and feels a bit like the Outer Limits. You will either see the ending coming and feel its a bit anti-climatic or clever, depending on your view point.

Three students take a detour from their road trip to investigate a hacker who almost got them expelled from their studies at MIT. They get abducted then spend the balance of the film trying to work out who was behind the abduction and why it occurred.This is a full-on science fiction film which holds out on releasing a lot of information until about two thirds of the way through. But you may guess the ending fairly early on and then you will pick up on other clues released by various characters along the way. The problem with this type of film is that the big reveal can't be delivered too early without spoiling the entire movie, then you find that there are so many unanswered questions and 'why didn't they just....' moments that the end becomes a bit of a disappointment. 'The Signal' falls into this category.Nicely shot and well acted with the big name of Laurence Fishburne to lend cred, this is a quality product that will satisfy many science fiction fans. Just don't ask too many questions.